July 29

Five Snowy Egrets were flying low, near the surface of the water and appeared from the edge of the woods beside the river. It was beautiful to watch. As soon as they landed beside the Great Blue Egret, they started hunting hungrily. After hunting for a while, they flew away back towards the river again. The regular resident American Coots was reduced to one in the feeding place. I saw three of them, but then two disappeared. I was glad to see a Black-Bellied-Whistling duck hunting nearby stay with the lone American Coot.

The Algae has not gone a way, without any sign of disappearing as I wished. And also, the leaves of the Yellow-Pond Lilies are growing quickly and covering the feeding place. The aquatic birds need better feeding place. Sadly, the wetlands are having a quiet midsummer this year.

Most of the aquatic birds left towards the river this morning, but there were plenty of Black Phoebes around the boardwalk. The characteristic shape of the head, a small rise on its top, creates a little imbalance to its slim body, but these friendly birds were busy catching insects around the boardwalk.

The mother of the chunky, juvenile Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was hunting on the barrier beside of the diving facility this morning, and the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was at the kayak dock in front of the Landing.

Mrs. Leezer, Associate Director and five students from the Center for Archaeological Studies, Texas State University arrived and they moved the excavation site on the lawn in front of the diving facility and the biological research site. I learned that the Indians had organized living conditions 7,000 years ago. From the artifacts, other research, and her experiences, Mrs. Leezer could see a cooking area site, tool making site, and a possibly burial site, etc. Current excavation is a survey, but the members of the Center for Archaeological Studies will conduct the excavation later for more artifacts and more research. It is an exciting project!

I was worried how the birds would react, but it did not have much effect on the birds around the lake.
I saw the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron hunting under the Bald Cypress tree beside the biological research site. I was glad to see the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was not bothered by the excavation project; a student was digging in the lawn near the bird.

The Chinese Domestic Geese family was taking a morning nap under the Bald Cypress tree beside the Swiss Sky Ride. Many flowers of the Fire bush opened this morning and a couple Blue-Throated Hummingbirds were busy collecting the honey from the flowers.